Tuesday, January 28, 2014

It's that time of year again! On Saturday, the NFL will be holding their NFL Honors 2013 in New York City. Alec Baldwin said he might get there late this year, because he'll be playing Words with Friends throughout the show and while driving. The awards up for grabs this year are:
I will go from boring to exciting (meaning the MVP award last)Don Shula NFL HS Coach of the Year: NoneNFL.com Fantasy Player of the Year: Jamaal Charles- Kansas City Chiefs RB
He had an unbelievable year and also led the Chiefs to the 1st playoffs in 3 years.
Runner Up: Peyton Manning- Denver Broncos QBAP Defensive Player of the Year:Luke Kuechly- Carolina Panthers MLB
Provided defensive stability to the linebackers in the Carolina secondary. Helped Thomas Davis and Charles Johnson succeed in the 3-4 defensive that Ron Rivera brings.
Runner Up: Richard Sherman- Seattle Seahawks CBSalute to Service Award: Champ Bailey- Denver Broncos CB
Bailey is of the best corners to ever play the game. It's one of his last years, give it to him as a "parting gift"
Runner Up: Troy Polamalu- Pittsburgh Steelers SPepsi NEXT Rookie of the Year:Keenan Allen- San Diego
Chargers WR

Allen led his team, San Diego Chargers to a playoff berth,
and led his team in receiving yards and receptions.

Manning throwing 7 TDs in one game is enough explaination
you need for this.

Runner Up: Broncos vs. Cowboys

Greatness on the Road: Seahawks

Look at their record. Virtually, unbeatable anywhere they
played.

Runner Up: BroncosAP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Kiko Alonso- Buffalo Bills LB
Had 159 tackles in one year, also had 4 INTs. Interceptions are hard to come by as a linebacker. He never missed a game for injury purposes or any other purposes. Had 87 solo tackles.
Runner Up: Sheldon Richardson- New York Jets DTFedEX Air and Ground Players of the Year: Peyton Manning and LeSean McCoy- Denver Broncos QB and Philadelphia Eagles RB
Manning had almost 6,000 passing yards and led the Broncos to their first Super Bowl in 17 years. Not much you can argue about that. McCoy led the Eagles to a playoff appearance and dominated all run based defenses and destroyed them. McCoy had almost 1,700 rushing yards this year.AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Keenan Allen- San Diego Chargers WR
Allen led his team, San Diego Chargers to a playoff berth, and led his team in receiving yards and receptions.
Runner Up: Cordarrelle Patterson- Minnesota Vikings WRGMC Never Say Never Moment of the Year- Ravens vs. Vikings
Ravens vs. Vikings had a combined 5 touchdowns in the final 125 seconds. Can't beat that.
Runner Up: Broncos vs. CowboysAP Comeback Player of the Year: Phillip Rivers- San Diego Chargers QB
Had an amazing bounce back year and made the Chargers a deep contender for years to come. Had 4,478 passing yards and his touchdown to interception ratio was 1:2.9!
Runner Up: Fred Jackson- Buffalo Bills RBAP Coach of the Year: Ron Rivera- Carolina Panthers
Rivera led the Panthers to a playoff berth a 1st round bye heading into the playoffs. Rebuilt the franchise and gave hope to the people of Charlotte.
Runner Up: Bruce Arians or Sean Payton
Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Charles Tillman- Chicago Bears DB
Tillman innovated the local "Play 60" campaign to local Chicago public schools. He also donated a large sum of money to local homeless shelters and Red Cross.
Runner Up: Charles Johnson- Carolina Panthers DE
And finally, last but not least, the AP Most Valuable Player goes to......

Monday, January 27, 2014

I was glancing at the NBA All Star Game Starters and I saw Kobe Bryant's name up there. He has only played 6 games this entire year, and yet he has 988,884 votes. Hmm.. why is that, although Kobe says he won't play in the All Star Game in New Orleans, I'm still skeptical.

As many of you may know, Richard Sherman's rant was all over local and national news. His sudden rant and outrage turned many "don't care for the Super Bowl" type fans into sudden die-hard Broncos. He recently said twice that Michael Crabtree is "medicore" and I'm here to analyze that.

Michael Crabtree, 6'2", 215 lbs. graduated out of Texas Tech in 2008. He was drafted 10th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. In 2009, he played in 11 out of 16 games, and only caught 48 passes for only 2 TDs. In 2010, he played a full season and caught only 7 more passes then the year before (55). His numbers sharply increased over 2011-2012, in which he caught a total of 157 passes. His numbers sharply drop after the 2012 season into 2013, in which he only catches 19 passes (in 6 games).

Sherman was right. Yes, Crabtree is medicore, his numbers will continue to drop, because of the new Pro/Pistol formation that many teams are utilizing. Kapernick is made for running and with the arrival of Anquan Boldin, his numbers will drop. Don't be surprised if the 49ers draft a WR in the 2nd-3rd round range. Also, I predict Crabtree will be a non-factor by 2017-2018 season. He is already 26 years old and already his body is breaking down.

As I was reading the local paper the other day, new addition Jason Kubel is excited about playing with his brother in law, rookie reliever Michael Tonkin. Kubel, a South Dakota native, is glad to be back with his old teammates. He says, "I'm very much looking forward to playing baseball with these guys again. They have amazing chemistry, and hopefully I'll be able to bring the World Series trophy back here." Right. Kubel signed a minor league contract with the team earlier this year. He's got slim chances of making the team this year, but he could end up in Triple AAA, and make the team off of a mid-season call-up.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

After the "Highfivers" reached their goal and beat it, we went venturing the service level and waiting for players to come out of the Autograph Station #4 and the Photo Booth. We walked over to the same place where we encountered Mr. Fingers, and talked to Jim "Mudcat" Grant. We asked him a question on how he got his nickname.

"When I started playin' ball, the managers thought that I was from Mississippi, so they called me Mudcat, y'all understand?. They said that because there are a lot of mud cats in the Mississippi River, but I'm from Lacoochee, Florida." We talked a little while longer, then left.

We stopped high fiving to go have some lunch. It was so packed, we had to find a table next to the children face painter. Then, we went and shot some hoops and got photos with these ballplayers:

We also had an funny/hilarious encounter with Chris Collabello. We were playing hoops, and therefore started this dialogue:
"Hey, Mr Collabello, what's up?
"Nothing much, man."
I go up, and shoot a 19 on the basketball arcade game, and then say:
"Hey Wilson, beat that man!"
Collabello sharply interrupts,
"Nah man! Beat my 48 I put up yesterday!"
Wilson proceeds to get a 27. Then us and Collabello, proceed to do a soul shake. Whatever that was. More tomorrow. Peace

I ended off with getting an autograph from Mr. Blyleven and we chatted for a little bit, then Wilson and I headed off to the elevators to explore the suite level. Then, out of the blue, we see a 6'5" giant. It was JOE MAUER. Then we asked him:

That was pretty sweet, BUT..... the best is yet to come! IN.... TWINSFEST.. PART 3

I went to Twinsfest yesterday with my buddy Wilson, who blogs Pride of the Twins, a super cool site. We saw many different aspects of Target Field that most people will never see. We saw the field when there was about 3-5' on the ground. We saw about 30 different players walking around (unlike years past) and conversing with the crowd. Pride of the Twins is Wilson's blog.

Wilson and I were walking around on the service level (probably the best and most interactive level out them all) and I talk and see this guy: Wow! How awesome was that to talk to a Hall of Famer! Mr. Blyleven was a very personable man, and very kind. I got an autograph with him. More to come in Twinsfest Part 2!

Hey Everyone! I'm just getting started with this blogging concept! In later posts, I will be posting about Twinsfest and baseball rumors and trades/free agencies! And also my trip down to Florida in the spring to watch some Tigers baseball! Let me know if you want any certain topics to be discussed. Otherwise, enjoy!